


And Joanna Makes Three

by ddagent



Series: Modern Lion Pride [3]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Parents, F/M, Loving Marriage, New Baby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-23
Updated: 2020-03-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23281474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddagent/pseuds/ddagent
Summary: Brienne and Jaime bring home their newest cub. Part of the 'Modern Lion Pride' series.
Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Series: Modern Lion Pride [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1672513
Comments: 74
Kudos: 223





	And Joanna Makes Three

**Author's Note:**

> "Ok ok for the MLP verse how about Brynden and cat meeting their baby sister for the first time 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺" (anonymous)
> 
> "Ok, how about this for MLP: a little throwback when Brynden and Cat met their baby sis for the first time in the hospital or maybe when Mom and dad brought the newborn Joanna home" (green-arrows-of-karamel)
> 
> "Request for your MLP verse!! - I was wondering if you would do one where Brienne tells Jaime she is pregnant or also the kids meeting their new sibling at the hospital (aka just like all the sappy YouTube videos that I watch). Pretty please (with sugar on top) and thank you!! You’re writing is amazing 🙌" (anonymous)
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this family fluff! <3

A car zoomed past; the driver pressing insistently on his horn and flipping them the middle finger from his open window. In the passenger seat, Brienne frowned, looked across at her husband, and sighed. “Jaime, you can go faster than ten miles per hour.”

“Can’t. Precious cargo.” One of his hands fell from the steering wheel to take hers before lifting it to his lips. “Front and back.”

Beaming, Brienne turned around to check the precious cargo in the back: their new-born daughter, Joanna Lannister-Tarth. Like her siblings, her head was covered in fine, golden hair, and her eyes were the same blue that Brienne saw in the mirror every day. Her nose was most _definitely_ Jaime’s, though. Of all three, Joanna’s delivery had been the easiest. There had been none of the worries that she would die in childbirth like she had with Catelyn. None of the drama of being stuck in Lannisport with Jaime’s family like she had with Brynden. 

Just her, her husband, and a beautiful sapphire lion cub. 

Jaime’s hand brushed her shoulder. “We’re nearly home.”

“Good.” Brienne wrenched her gaze away from their new daughter. “I hope the kids have been good for Dad.”

“Of course, they have. Anyway, Tully said he’d pop round, give your Dad a break.” 

Tully was _Brynden Tully,_ former head of the Riverlands Historical Re-enactment Society and now the owner of a couple of gyms in the North. They’d both met Tully at different times: Brienne when she’d foregone the university gym in favour of something quieter; Jaime when Catelyn had suggested he start a historical re-enactment society on campus to keep him out of trouble. He was a good man, a good friend. He was also waiting for them on the stone steps leading up to their house as they pulled up. 

“Welcome home,” he greeted, pulling Brienne into a warm embrace while Jaime got their new daughter from the back seat. “I’m here to stall while the kids and your father finish blowing up balloons.”

“Thanks, Tully.” 

Jaime joined them, having abandoned the car seat in favour of just cradling his twenty-hour baby girl in his arms. He’d been the same with all three of their children: carrying Cat by himself up six flights of stairs to their old apartment; carrying Brynden through the draughty halls of Casterly Rock to his childhood bedroom. And now, when her father gave the signal it was okay to proceed, Jaime carried Joanna over the threshold to her new home. 

“We’re back!”

They entered the house; ‘it’s a girl’ and ‘congratulations’ banners in gold and silver pinned to the ceiling, as well as a multitude of balloons covering the floor. Her father bypassed Jaime and the new baby to embrace his own daughter, wrapping her up in his arms to check that she was okay. _She was._ The delivery had gone fine; they’d made it home without Jaime getting a driving citation. 

Now, all that was left was to introduce Joanna to her new siblings. 

Brienne sat down on one end of the sofa and Jaime gently eased Joanna into her arms. He then gave their other cubs _big_ hugs, covering them in kisses and hoping they had been good for Grandad Selwyn. They both wanted to make it clear to Cat and Brynden that no one was being replaced, and they had enough love for all three of them. They did _not_ want a repeat of when Jaime’s sister gave birth to her youngest son, and her eldest had pushed the baby onto the floor. 

Unfortunately, Cat’s response to the new baby was to run out of the room and up the stairs. Brienne let out a deep sigh, before turning to Brynden. “Do you want to meet your new baby sister?” 

He nodded; Jaime ushering their son forward. Brynden pulled himself up onto the sofa beside Brienne and rested his head on her shoulder. “I missed you, Mummy.”

“I missed you, too, Little Moon.” 

Brynden fiddled with the edge of Joanna’s blanket. “Does she have a name?”

“Joanna, after your grandmother,” Jaime said, settling in on the other side of Brynden. 

A mop of blond curls shook. “No, like _I’m_ Little Moon, and Cat is Little Lion. What’s Joanna’s name?”

Brienne stared down at the little bundle in her arms, one fist pressed against her mouth as she slept peacefully. The sweet terms of endearment had had always been based on the Lannister and Tarth house sigils. Tywin had doted so much on Cat as a baby that, at one point, everything she wore had a lion on it. Brynden’s favourite baby blanket had been covered in crescent moons, a gift from their other grandfather. There was, really, only one name left. 

“Little Star.” 

Beside Brienne, her boys grinned. However, their moment of joy was ruined by a large thump from the staircase. Brienne twisted her head to see Cat coming down the stairs lugging one of the heavy wooden swords Jaime had used in a class demonstration before he went on paternity leave. Before she could react, Jaime had already jumped from the sofa and rushed over to remove the wooden blade from Cat’s hands. 

“Catelyn Lannister-Tarth, what do you think you are doing?” Jaime growled, only to soften when his daughter’s face curled in on itself. He bent down beside their eldest. “You could have hurt yourself. Now, I know a new baby can be scary—”

“—I’m not scared. I’m not scared of _anything._ ” Cat turned to stare at her new baby sister. “But she’s so small. She needs to be protected.” 

Jaime turned to Brienne and shrugged his shoulders. They hadn’t anticipated _that_ reaction. Cat had only been two when Brynden joined their family, and she had taken great pleasure in explaining to her baby brother all the things they were going to do together. But, clearly, with age had come a desire to wield a wooden sword that was nearly as tall as her. 

Brienne offered her hand for her Little Lion to take. Cat came rushing over. “I understand you want to protect Joanna, and that’s very sweet. But Daddy and I can protect her; you don’t need to bring a sword when you spend time with her.”

“It’s not for that.”

“Then what’s it for?”

Cat bit her bottom lip in an act that was so reminiscent of Brienne it made her heart ache. “Tully told us about knights and their vows. He said if you wanted to protect someone, you put the sword in front of them and you say the words.” 

Jaime was grinning. Brienne did her best to hide her own smile as their daughter looked _so_ serious. “I think that only works if you’re a knight, Cat.”

“But I _am_ a knight! Daddy knighted me last week when we were playing Dragons and Wights. He’s knighted me a lot; I think he keeps forgetting he’s done it.”

Her husband was lost. Brienne, thankfully, maintained her composure long enough to bring her eldest daughter right in front of the new-born. There would be no harm in Cat saying the words. It wasn’t as if there would be any uprisings, dragon attacks, or white walkers necessary for Cat to give her life for her baby sisters. Behind them, Jaime had pulled out his phone. Only a small percentage of their inner circle would understand the cuteness of the moment, but Jaime still pressed _record._

“Do you remember the words?” Cat nodded. “Okay. Well, put your hand on the baby’s head, there we go, and you can say them.”

Cat stroked her baby sister’s head as Joanna began to stir. “I will shield your back, and keep your cow– _counsel._ I will give my life for yours if need be.” Cat’s voice grew in volume. “I swear it, by the Old Gods and the New!” She settled back down. “She has to say the other half of it.”

“She will,” Brienne said, beaming at all three of her cubs. “When she’s older, you can teach her the words.”

When played for others, later on, the video did not cut off there. Jaime was too busy staring at his family, finally complete, to press _stop._


End file.
